Lock-rail joint



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190.462,399. Patented Nov.3,1891. 9

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P. C. DOGKSTADEB..

LOCK RAIL JOINT.

No. 462,399. Patented Nov. 3, 1891.

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LOGK RAIL JOINT.

190.462,399. Patented Nov. 3, 1891.

UNiTnn STATES PATENT OtticaG PRESTON (l. DOCKS'IADER, OF COLORADO SPRlNGS, COLORADO.

LOCK-RAIL JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 462,399, dated November 3, 1891.

Application tiled October 25, 1890. Serial No. 369,326. (No model.) i

T0 all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, PRESTON C. DocK- STADER, of Colorado Springs, in the count-yof El Paso and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Im provements in Loek- Rail Joints; and I do hereby declare that the followin is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form' a part of this specification.

This invention'relates to new and useful improvements in the construction of devices for locking the ends of railroad-rails together, wherein a chair is used, within or upon which the adjacent ends of two rails are placed and to which said rails are secured.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims. y

In the accompanying drawings,illustrating my invention, Figure l is a perspective view of a chair embodying my invention with the adjacent ends of two rails locked in position therein. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partly in section, the sectional portion of said view being taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. lis a separate perspective view of one of the wedges employed to retain the ends of the rails in proper posi tion within the chair. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the chair7 illustrating the manner in which the under side of said chair is formed. Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view illustrating a modified forni of the same. Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating another inodi'iication. Fig. S is acentral vertical section taken on line S S of Fig. l. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a chair, showing a different method of securing the wedges in place. Fig. l0 is a separate view of the key.

ln said drawings, A A indicate the adjacent ends of the rails, and B a chair of wrought or cast iron, steel, or other suitable material. The chair B is formed with a fiat surface l1, upon which the ends of the rails rest. The chair B is also formed with two upwardlyprojecting flanges l l5', suitably shaped, to embrace the lateral flanges a a upon the base 'of the rails and engage at their upper edges against the under side ot' the heads a a of the rails adjacent to the webs of the latter.

These ianges B l are curved or deflected inwardly, so as to approach the webs of the rails above the iianges a a at the bottom of the rails, and are then directed'upwardl y and inwardly, so as to engage the webs of the rails adjacent to the head of the latter.-

The chair is designed to be placed upon and secured to the railroad-tie, and for this purpose holes C C are formed in said chair at convenient locations, through which spikes are driven into the tie to secure said chair in place thereon.

Upon the tlat face h of the chair and at the sides thereof upon which rest the flanges a a of the rails are formed upwardly-projecting studs or lugs h Z1', adapted to engage corresponding notches a2 a2 in said iianges a a to prevent the rails from shifting longitudinally wit-'hin said chair. The space between the inclined portions of the iianges B B of the chair B and the horizontal surface h is made sufficiently great to permit the anges a a at the base of the rails to be inserted under said iianges and above said studs l1 band moved longitudinally within said space until the notches a2 d2 coincide with said studs when the rail ,is dropped down, so that the studs will engage said notches and retain the ends of the rails in place within the chair. The under or inside surfaces of the flanges B B are preferably somewhat inclined from end to end, so that the space between each of said iianges and the horizontal surface Z) is somewhat greater at one end than at the other, and when the rails are properly adjusted tapered wedges E E are driven into said spaces above the [langes a? a2 and between said iianges a2 a2 of the rails and the iianges B B of the chair, so as to prevent displacement of the rails. The wedges E lf] are preferably of such shape in cross-section as to conform to the shape of the rail at the base of the web, so as to firmly brace the rails against lateral strain. The form of said wedges is clearly shown in Figs. l, 2, .t, and S, and, as shown in said figures, a longitudinal rib c maybe provided along the upper edge of each of said wedges, said ribs being adapted to engage the angles formed by the bend in the iianges B 3 and operating to more firmly crowd said wedges against the webs of the rails when they are driven into position within the chair.

The under surfaces of the flanges B B are inclined in such manner thatthe largeror deeper portion of the space beneath one of said lian ges will be at one end of the chair and the large or deep part of the space beneath the other flange will be at the other end of thev chair, so that the wedges E E may be driven into said spaces from opposite ends of said chair. By this construction a very firm and even pressure is brought upon the rails, and any strain which would tend to loosenl one of the wedges would obviouslyT tend to tighten the other, so that the liability of the rails creeping, so common in joints of this character, is very greatly lessened. The chair is also formed with one of its sides, preferably the side designed to come upon the outer side of the rails, or that next the end of the tie when in use, extended or prolonged in a direction at right angles to the rails, as shown in the drawings at B2, so as to provide additional strength at the outside of the chai r to prevent the liability of the rails spreading and to afford a more stable support for the same. In order to further strengthen said outer portion of the chair, I provide a rib or brace B3,

extending from near the top ofthe outer flan ge B downwardly and outwardly along the eX- tended portion B2 of the chair.

As a separate and further improvement, in

order to more securely hold the chairin position upon the tie, I provide one or more ribs or flanges D upon the n nder side of the chair, as4 shown more particularly in Figs. 5 and 6. These ribs are formed with sharp edges, so that when the chair is placed upon the tie and spikes driven through the holes C C to secure the chair in place as the spikes are driven home'the ribs D D will be forced into the upper surface of the tie. In this manner the ribs afford an additional support to prevent the chair from shifting from its proper position upon the tie and relieve in a great measure the strain upon the spikes. The ribs D D may be arranged in any preferred manner upon the under side ot' the chair, either as shown in Fig. 5 or in Fig. G or otherwise, as desired.

Instead of the ribsD D, a number ofpointed studs, as d d, Fig. 7, may be formed uponthe under side of the chair, which will of course operate to retain the chair in position upon the tie in the same manner as the ribsD D.

By reference to the drawings it will be observed that the bclt-holes are all inclosed instead of being arranged in the form of notches cut in the margins of the chair, asin the forms of chairs heretofore commonly in use. By this construction the chair is much more firmly retained in position on the tie, and there is no liability of its becoming loosened, as sometimes occurs in the use of open notches by reason of one or more of the spikes being bent outwardly until free from said notches.

The horizontal surface of the chair between the ilanges B B is preferably hollowed ont or grooved at its central part, as shown at b2 in Figs. 2, 3, 5, 7, and S of the drawings, so that the side flanges a a of the rails will rest evenly upon the surfaces b b at each side of the chair. By this construction the strain is uniformly distributed throughout the chair and is notconcentrated at a point directly beneath the web of the rail, as would be the case if the groove b2 were not present.

As a separate and further improvement, I provide each of the Wedges E E with one or more grooves or slots e e at its smaller end, said slots or grooves extending crosswise of the wedge, as shown more particularly in Fig.4 of the drawings. The wedges are made of sufiicient length to project at their smaller ends somewhat beyond'the ends of the chair when driven intov place therein, as shown in Fig. 1.

In order to secure the Wed ges firmly in position and prevent accidental displacement of the same, I drive into` one of said slots e e', adjacent to the end of the chair, a key or cotter e2, the same being of sufficient thickness to cause it to project above the surface of the wedge and prevent the same from moving longitudinally within the chair. I find in practice that an ordinary wrought nail is well adapted for this purpose.

In orderto prevent the key or cotter from working out of the slot in the wedge, I form the end of the chair with a projecting ear b3, arranged to extend over said slot and against which the key bears when driven, so as to prevent the key from being raised out of engagement with said slot. As the said key is driven into the slot it strikes "against the web of the rail and its end is turned upwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, so that it is prevented from working backwardly out ofthe slot by its bent end coming against the projecting ear b3. The ear b3, formed as herein described,'is, however, not essential, inasmuch as other equivalent devices may be employed to hold said key in position-as, for instance, as shown in Fig. 5, a shallow recess or groove b4 may be formed in the end of the chair and the key be driven into position within said recess, taking in such case an inclined direction in entering the slot, but being straightened out in passing through the same, its end being bent upwardly upon striking the rail-web, as before described. In this form of construction it is obvious thatthe upper surface of the recess bears upon the top of the key or cotterin precisely the same manner as does the projecting ear or lug and serves to retain the key -in place within the groove.

A main advantage gained by my improved construction in locking devices Afor securing the adjacent ends of the rails together is that no bolts are used in forming the joints, and at the same time the rail ends are firmly locked in position by the wedges and are strongly braced from different directions by the flanges upon the chair.

One cause of creeping of the rails is that the grip of the bolts is often unequal-#that is IOO IIO

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ISO

.to say, it is very difficult and often impossible to adjust a bolt so that it presses the splice against the end ot one ot the' rails with a pressure equal to that exerted by other bolts in the adjacent end or" the other rail and in the same joint-and it follows that while one rail is gripped very iirmly the other rail in the saine. joint may be comparatively loose, so that the rolling blow from a passing train will cause the loose rail to act against its neighbors as a sled ge-ham mer and drive them in either direction, thus causing creeping ot the track. It is obvious, however, that by my improved construction a very even, strong, and vise-like grip upon the ends of both rails is produced, and the wedges being driven into position from opposite directions firmly secure the ends of the railsfroin longitudinal movement in either direction. Furthermore, the bottom ilanges being gripped within the chair at a point remote from the web or center of the rail, and the chair being cut away or grooved beneath the center of the rail, a very even distribution ot' the strain is attained and the joint is rendered somewhat elastic and the liability of breakage caused by the excessive rigidity of the so-called dead-joints, or

joints in which there is no elasticity of the` 'the rails are liable to bend into a V shape and remain so, thus injuring the rail.

By my construction as herein described an exceedingly strong joint is provided and practically a continuous rail is obtained.

It is obvious that instead of the key shown in Figs. l and 2 different forms of keys may be employed--as, for in stance, the form shown in Figs. 9 and IO, in which the key is formed from a piece of wire bent into the form shown in Fig. I0. The wedge is formed inA the same manner as before, having the transverse grooves e across its upper surface, and the key F being formed with a straight portion f, adapted to engage one of said grooves e', and having its ends bent at right angles to the straight portion f, so as to project beneath the fiange B of the chair to hold the straight portion f in engagement with the groove e. In this form ot' key one end, as f', is preferably formed with a Veshaped bend and the other endj12 is left straight.

In use the V-shaped end f of the key is inserted between the web ot the rail and the npwardly-projecting part ot the tlange B above the wedge, and the end f2 is inserted under the inwardly-projecting portion of said tlange B at the side of the wedge. The key is then driven into position, as shown in Fig.

i), the straight part f engaging with one ot` the transverse grooves e and operating to retain the wedge in place in the chair in precisely the same manner as the key shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is obvious that the bent endsff2 will when the key is in position exert a downward pressure upon the straight portion f and effectually prevent any displacement of the key. XVhere this forni ot key is employed the chair may be recessed or not, as desired, the particular forni shown being without either the recess or the projecting ear shown in the other figures of the drawings.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination, with the track-rails, of a chair having a horizontal base supporting the adjacent ends of said rails and provided with two upwardly-p roj ecti ng flan ges einbracing the bottom flanges of the rails and engaging at their upper edges with the webs of said rails, and tapered wedges inserted between said flanges upon the chair and the bottoni iianges ot the rails, said wedges being provided with transverse grooves, and keys or cotters adapted to be inserted in one of said grooves of each ot said wedges and to engage the chair to prevent loiigitudinal movement of said wedges, substantially as described.

The combination, with the trackrails, ot a chair having a horizontal base supporting the adjacent ends ot' said rails and provided with two upwardly-projecting flanges embrac ing the bottoni iianges of the rails and engaging at their upper edges with the webs of said rails, and tapered wedges inserted between said flanges upon the chair and the bottom flanges of the said rails, said-wedges being provided with transverse grooves, and keysor cotters adapted to be inserted in one ot' the grooves ot each of said wedges and to engage the chair to prevent longitudinal movement of said wedges, said chair being also provided with overhanging portions adapted to bear upon the upper side of said keys or cotters, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the track-rails, of a chair having a horizontal base supporting and bearing against the bottom flanges ot said rails and provided with two upwardly and inwardly extending tlanges embracing the bottom anges of the rails and bearing against the webs of the rails at their upper edges, said flanges having the lower surfaces of their iuwardly-extending portionsinclined from end to end, and tapered wedges inserted between said flanges and the bottom flanges of the rails, said wedges being each formed with aV rib extending along its upper edge and adapted to engage the angle formed by the bent portion ot the iiange, said wedges being also provided with one or more transverse grooves, and keys adapted to be inserted in one of said grooves ot each of said wedges, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

et. The combination, with the track-rails, of a chair having a horizontal basesupporting IOO IIO

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chair being,r provided with projecting?,` ears or lugs adapted to beur upon the upper side ot` said keys or cotters, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 15 my invention I affix my signature in presence ot' two Witnesses.

PRESTON C. DOCKSTADER. Witnesses:

W. S. I-IoYT, GEORGE I-I. GIRToN. 

